Hyster is focused on the delivery customer requirements. Ian Melhuish conveyed this message recently at the company's manufacturing base in Craigavon, in Northern Ireland. His core specialism is marketing, and he spoke well of the Ps that apply to his marketing of Hyster's productivity and successful products.

Ian Melhuish spoke of product, price, promotion, place, people, positioning, and people. He spoke of those Ps as one might of a formula.

The concept and the reality

The Hyster Nine Ps are, in fact, a formula enable the concept 'Promise to Proof' to be realised. Satisfying customers' needs is more than this formula, however, and Hyster vice president - marketing EMEA, Ian Melhuish, spoke of the key drivers to customer satisfaction. These are: customer requirements, cost of ownership, market changes, technology, globalisation, and legislation.

Delivering on change, delivering quality

The key question to respond to is, according to Ian Melhuish, "How can we react quickly to changing drivers, whilst maintaining a high level of quality?"

According to Ian Melhuish, one thing to bear in mind is this: "Change is the only constant."

Strategies for satisfying customer requirements include: modular designs; measurable, quantifiable information on product development and corporate gains; a philosophy of continuous improvement of development, design and manufacture; investment in facilities; and lowering cost of ownership by improving durability and dependability.

Testing is to the core, and the test track and test facilities at Craigavon and other Hyster locations serve this core, this fundamental approach to quality. But distribution is tied to this. Hyster is prepared to deliver its products anywhere the world - and so it develops and tests its products to be capable of efficient and effective operation anywhere in the world.

What is the promise?

Ian Melhuish extended the concept of delivering on promise with an understanding of how intelligent choices influence productivity, and how productivity is a function of energy consumption.

Hyster offers e-balance, which enables its customers to trade performance and energy efficiency. E-balance helps further to lower the cost of ownership through fuel efficiency modes, by remapping engines and implementing fly-by-wire engine management technology.

"If you can the driver more efficient, and can make the truck work more efficiently, you can improve productivity," says Ian Melhuish.